Weekly Weigh-In 2006-07-30 July 30, 2006
- Current Weight: 89.73 kg (197.8 lbs)
- Change this week: -0.04 kg (-0.09 lbs)
- FFM: +0.04 kg (+0.09 lbs)
- Fat: -0.08 kg (-0.18 lbs)
- Total lost to date: 20.3 kg (44.8 lbs)
- Number of days exercised: 1
Not much to report this week. I hardly lost any weight, but at least I didn’t go backwards. As long as you keep doing that, you’ll eventually reach your goal weight. I think they call this strategy “failing towards the goal”. 
I got one decent walk in this week. It’s not much, but it felt good to stretch the legs and get the blood going.
My aim for the week ahead is to get the diet going more strictly, and to start my jogging again.
Weekly Weigh-In 2006-07-23 July 23, 2006
- Current Weight: 89.77 kg (197.9 lbs)
- Change this week: -0.24 kg (-0.53 lbs)
- FFM: -0.07 kg (-0.15 lbs)
- Fat: -0.17 kg (-0.37 lbs)
- Total lost to date: 20.2 kg (44.5 lbs)
- Number of days exercised: 0
Hmm, a bit of a shocker this week. I’ve fallen into a bit of a lethargic funk, probably because I haven’t been able to get out for a run for 3 weeks. It’s the weather, it’s been a busy few weeks, it’s the kids, it’s a whole bunch of excuses. But the end result is that I have less energy and seem to have less self-discipline when it comes to eating.
I need to get the exercise happening again this week!
Overcoming Fitness Obstacles: Time July 18, 2006
This post is part of the Overcoming Fitness Obstacles series, and is a follow-up to the Fitness Obstacles: Time article.
There are two main problems with finding time to exercise:
- finding a time of day when you can actually do exercise (especially if you have kids, a job, or other demands on your schedule)
- the time it takes to exercise, when you’re already overloaded with other things you need to do
So, how have I dealt with the time problem?
The single most successful thing I did was to start getting up half an hour earlier every day and going out for a walk or run. It really isn’t too hard – I only miss half an hour of sleep, and the extra exercise seems to really wake me up and boost my alertness throughout the day.
If you need some help getting up earlier, check out Steve Pavlina’s article How To Become An Early Riser (and also Part II).
The time it takes to exercise has always bothered me, and I think it’s a big reason why I’ve never been able to maintain any regular exercise. Time spent exercising is time not spent doing any of the dozens of other things clogging up my To Do list.
My solution was to listen to podcasts and audio books on my iPod while exercising. I had a whole bunch of books I’d been meaning to read for a long time, and never found the time. I was able to find many of them in the audio book section of my local library and rip them to my iPod (deleting them after I’d listened). Others I bought on eBay, and sold again after I’d listened to them. Exercise time was no longer ‘dead time’, it was now a valuable learning time. I was actually ticking things off my To Do list while I was exercising, and I was learning a lot of stuff that helped me in other areas of my life as well.
Another trick I’ve used from time to time is riding an exercise bike while watching TV. There are a few shows I like to watch regularly, and they usually involve just sitting passively on the lounge for half an hour up to two hours. I sometimes get on the exercise bike and pedal while watching. I go fairly slow and steady during the show so I can pay attention, and then go hard during the commercials. Your family might laugh at you a bit, but it works!
Some other ideas that might work for you:
- ride a bike to work and shower when you get there
- get dropped off at work in the morning with your bike, and ride home (so you don’t have to shower at work)
- catch public transport to work, and jog home
- work out during your lunch hour and shower before returning to work
- give something up (a TV show, a hobby, or some other commitment) to get back some time for exercising
- go for a jog or walk with your significant other, combining relationship time with exercise time
If you have some more ideas for overcoming the obstacle of time, please post them in the comments below!
Technorati Tags: exercise, motivation, time, fitness
Overcoming Fitness Obstacles
Back in May, I wrote a series of articles about various obstacles I’ve encountered in my quest to become fitter: Fitness Obstacles. Now I’m revisiting those obstacles, and giving suggestions on ways you can overcome them.
Having lost over 20 kg now, and improving my level of fitness from huffing and puffing around a 3 km walk to running 5 km in 26 minutes, I can vouch that these techniques work for me. Hopefully they’ll work for you too!
This entry will serve as an anchor point for the posts to come, and the links below will be updated each time a new entry is posted.
- Time
- Boredom
- Guilt
- Laziness
- Feedback
If you can think of any other obstacles you’d like to see me address, please let me know in the comments below!
Technorati Tags: fitness, motivation, exercise, weight loss, workout, time, boredom, guilt, laziness, feedback
I Threw Out Leftover Chinese Food! July 17, 2006
This is probably a first for me. We had Chinese takeaway for dinner a few nights ago, and I didn’t gorge myself. I had one nice-sized plateful, and didn’t go back for seconds. It turns out, you don’t actually starve to death during the night if you do this.
The leftover food, as always, was put in the fridge. Leftover Chinese is one of the greatest breakfasts there is!
The next morning, though, the food just didn’t look that appetising to me. The thought of all those calories, the greasy sauce and the stringy meat just sapped the joy out of it. I actually preferred to eat plain old rolled oats!
I kept the containers in the fridge for a few days, you know, just in case. I considered eating it for lunch a couple of times, but chose not to.
In the end, the food got thrown out. I don’t think leftover Chinese has ever lasted more than a day in my fridge before, let alone been kept long enough to require throwing out!
Weekly Weigh-In 2006-07-16 July 16, 2006
- Current Weight: 90.0 kg (198.4 lbs)
- Change this week: -0.84 kg (-1.85 lbs)
- FFM: -0.33 kg (-0.73 lbs)
- Fat: -0.51 kg (-1.12 lbs)
- Total lost to date: 20.0 kg (44.1 lbs)
- Number of days exercised: 0
Again, this was a terrible week for exercise. Again, it was a combination of illness, late nights, busy days and inclement weather. It’s now been two weeks since I last went for a run, and I’m really getting edgy to get out there again. Man, how I wish the rain would stop!
Despite the lack of exercise, I was able to maintain proper eating habits this week and keep the weight loss rate above 0.8 kg/week. I’m now below 90 kg (198 lbs), which is a huge milestone for me. I think the last time I was at this weight was when I got married 7 1/2 years ago!
Weekly Weigh-In 2006-07-09 July 9, 2006
- Current Weight: 90.85 kg (200.3 lbs)
- Change this week: -0.46 kg (-1.01 lbs)
- FFM: -0.07 kg (-0.15 lbs)
- Fat: -0.39 kg (-0.86 lbs)
- Total lost to date: 19.1 kg (42.1 lbs)
- Number of days exercised: 0
This hasn’t been a very good week for exercise. Bad weather kept me inside for several days, then a series of late nights and waking children had me not wanting to get up early. On Saturday I then fell ill and missed Sunday’s run. I think the gods were conspiring against me this week!
I’m still sick, so I’ll probably miss a few more days of exercise in the coming week too.
As I expected, my weight loss this week was down a bit on the last few weeks. I should be able to get it back up again in the coming week. I’m aiming for at least 0.8 kg lost this week.
Weekly Weigh-In 2006-07-02 July 2, 2006
- Current Weight: 91.31 kg (201.3 lbs)
- Change this week: -0.85 kg (-1.87 lbs)
- FFM: -0.28 kg (-0.62 lbs)
- Fat: -0.57 kg (-1.26 lbs)
- Total lost to date: 18.7 kg (41.2 lbs)
- Number of days exercised: 5
Again, this was another great week of weight loss. The extra effort has been paying off, with my weight loss rate rising to a pretty good level. I’m slightly disappointed I wasn’t able to top 1 kg this week, but 0.85 kg is pretty close. Combined with last week’s loss, this puts me above my two-week goal of 1.5 kg.
The week ahead is going to have a few get-togethers involving a bit of eating out, so I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to maintain my current rate. I’ll do what I can, though, and push to keep the momentum up for the following week.
My goal is to lose 1.3 kg over the next fortnight, which will put me at 20 kg (44 lbs) lost since I began this journey at the end of last year. That puts me at a weight of 90 kg (198 lbs), which is getting back towards normal. I’ll then have just 7 kg to go before I’m at the upper limit of my ideal weight range of 67-83 kg (147-183 lbs) (according to this ideal weight calculator).
The ultimate goal is in sight!